GIRLS = Holton 53, Burlington 21

The Holton girls scored the first 15 points of the game and never looked back in route to a dominating win at Burlington. The Lady Wildcats led 30-7 at halftime and forced a running clock throughout the fourth period while also causing more than 25 turnovers with full-court pressure and a suffocating defense. 

Holton used their experience of four returning seniors and a height advantage to control the boards and pace of the game while 9 of their 10 players scored.  Lindsey Wisdom led the way with 16 points while Tiara Dodd had 10. Grace Etzel and Elizabeth Schuster each chipped in 6 points while Brooke Willcott and Brooke Flewelling both added 4 points. 

BOYS = Holton 65, Burlington 62 in 2 OT

It was quite the debut for first-year Holton boys Head Coach Eric Tate as several athletes had extremely limited practice reps this week following their state runner-up football campaign that just ended on Saturday. The Wildcats however were in control for the majority of the game and turned a 12-8 first quarter advantage into a big lead of 30-19 just before halftime. 

Burlington however used a 16-6 third quarter to take a 38-36 advantage as the Cats began to wear down without their basketball legs. Yet, despite trailing 43-36 with six minutes to play in the game, Holton's nine seniors found a way to make a late push and get a couple key steals and rebounds to claw back. Kobe Black made the first of two free throws in the final 10 seconds before Holton grabbed another offensive rebound and then Black hit a game-tying triple with five seconds. 

Holton led through both overtime periods, although Burlington had a shot at the end of the first overtime and missed a potential tying trey at the end of double overtime. It was a gutsy effort for Holton who only played eight guys and had one of those foul out in the fourth quarter. 

Matt Lierz wasn't expected to play but ended up with 19 points including four trifecta's. Tyson Snyder scored a game-high 22 points while Kobe Black scored 8 and Parker Crouch had 7. Sam Miller and Kyler Kathrens each added 4 to complete the Wildcats scoring by just six players. Holton made only 8 of 18 free throws including a miss with less than one second left in regulation.

Burlington had four players score all but one point, led by Sage Fejfar with 19, Hayden Sides 14 and Brody Felts and Grant Hegg each with 13.